St. Padre Pio - Wonderworker

Today, September 23, we celebrate the feast of St Padre Pio

ONE | Stigmata

In Colossians 1:24 Paul wrote: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.

Inspired by this verse, Padre Pio developed a burning desire to share in the suffering of Jesus and by so doing console the His Sacred Heart and help him save souls.  

In 1918, Jesus granted his wish giving Padre Pio the gift of the Stigmata. The five wounds of Jesus appeared in the body, in his feet, hands and side of Padre Pio and lasted for almost 50 years, miraculously healing right before Pio’s death in 1968.

The wounds of Christ were very painful, still Padre Pio remained patient in his long suffering. Patience is to endure suffering cheerfully. Pio also retained his sense of humor throughout his suffering.  When a woman asked Padre Pio if the bloody wounds of the stigmata hurt, he asked her, with a smile, if she thought the good Lord gave him these for decoration.

Padre Pio said: Jesus himself wants my sufferings; He needs them for souls.”

Do we take advantage of our crosses and sufferings to console the heart of Jesus and help him save souls by offering up our suffering or do we waste them by complaining, becoming more self-absorbed or wishing them away?

TWO | Bilocation

Padre Pio had the supernatural gift of Bi-location. He could be in the Monastery in Italy, surrounded by eye-witnesses and at the same time he would be somewhere else, with witnesses to his presence there.

Italy began WWII on the side of the Nazis. The Allied forces conducted many bombing raids across Italy at this time. According to various accounts, intelligence reported German munitions near San Giovanni Rotondo, the town in which stood the monastery of St. Padre Pio. However, at the beginning of the war Padre Pio reassured the people that no bomb would touch their small city. True to his word, Padre Pio reportedly went out of his way to make this happen.

At one point an American pilot was just about to bomb the city when, “Suddenly, the pilot saw in front of his plane the image of a monk in the sky, gesturing with his arms and hands for the plane to turn back. The shocked pilot did just that, and jettisoned his bombs elsewhere. When he returned to the base and told his story, his commanding officer decided it was best to put this pilot in a hospital under observation for mission-fatigue.” The pilot couldn’t get the image from his mind and after the war he made inquiries to find this monk. He eventually made the journey to San Giovanni Rotondo and recognized the “flying monk” as St. Padre Pio. When the pilot revealed the date of the occurrence – all the monks could verify two things – Pio cannot fly without a plane and he was in the monastery the entire day.

THREE | The Ability to Read Souls

The bulk of his priestly ministry was spent in the confessional, averaging about 15 hours a day, and up to 40,000 a year! This heavy traffic was because of the mystical gift he received of being able to read souls in order to help those going to Reconciliation make a good confession without holding anything back. To one woman who had buried in her soul a sin from many years before, Padre Pio said, “I hear someone crying, don’t you hear someone crying?” “No” the woman said. And he replied, “the cry is from the child you aborted many years ago.” Sobbing, the woman confessed the sin and left the confessional completely released from the guilt of her sin and at peace with God and at peace with herself. This gift also made him a good confessor with those who abused this sacrament. As you can imagine, his mystical gifts drew all kinds of curious people who came for the wrong reasons. Denials of absolution and delayed absolution were common judgments made by Padre Pio and to those who made bad confessions and had no contrition he would yell, “basta, enough, leave and come back when you are ready.” He was not afraid to be stern and tough. To any priest who questioned his methods, he responded by saying, “I do not give candy to sinners who need a laxative.”

Honestly, I don’t want a confessor who can read my soul or my mind. But I know that I am unaware of many of my vices and habitual sins. Yet I am lazy about praying to the Holy Spirit to reveal my sins to me and about a daily examination of conscience. What holds you back from the resolution to make a daily examination of conscience?

Where will you insert it into your routine and make it a habit?

When specifically each day?

FOUR | Political Affairs

It’s impossible to exaggerate the appeal of Padre Pio in Italy even now, more than 50 years after his death.

Virtually every restaurant in the country, every bar, every cab, has a holy card or an image of the famed stigmatic and holy man.

After WWII most thought Italy would willingly become Communist and go along with the Soviet Union. However, since 10s of 1000s of people were flocking to see this modern day miracle, Padre Pio, he used this as an occasion to warn people of the evil of Marxism and Communism. In fact, the Communist party blamed Padre Pio for their defeat in two of the general elections held during the late 1940’s.

Like St Maximilian Kolbe, St. Padre Pio educated himself on the beliefs and evils of Marxism and counselled all people to vote against them. We have a duty to know what forces are at play in our country and do all that is in our power to ensure the right form of government and leaders guide it.

FIVE | Rosary

Padre Pio used to carry permanently a Rosary in his hands and would pray it many times a day. 

Holding the Rosary Padre Pio would say with conviction: "With this, one wins the battles."

To one person he said: "When you get tired reciting the Rosary, rest a bit, and then restart again."

One night at 9:00 PM, Pio said to Father Carmelo: "I still have 2 rosaries to pray today. I said only 34 so far. Then I will go to bed."

Answering a question: "Some days I say 40 Rosaries, some other days 50."

How do I do it? "How do you manage not so say any?"

“Satan wants to destroy this prayer, but in this he will never succeed. The Rosary is the prayer of those who triumph over everything and everyone. It was Our Lady who taught us this prayer, just as it was Jesus who taught us the Our Father.”